16 Classic & Sports Car September 2019
GOODWOOD FESTIVAL OF SPEED
79-year-old frame into a red-and-
white-liveried 917 will never cease
to amaze, likewise Brian Redman
peering over the PA’s ’screen on his
way loudly to the hill. It is at this
Goodwood excels like no other.
There were celebrations aplenty,
though the overall theme was
‘Speed Kings – Motorsport’s
Record Breakers’. Among the Land
Speed and speed-record cars was
‘Babs’, the fire-breathing ‘Beast of
Turin’ and earlier Fiat S74, plus the
monstrously large Hotchkiss AM
80 that dwarfed the pair of Bugatti
T35s (B and C) standing opposite.
The ‘Razorblade’ Aston Martin,
driven in period by pre-war lumi-
naries such as Bertie Kensington
Moir, Frank Halford and George
Eyston, straddled the two key
themes, because this year’s central
feature thrust high ‘the’ Aston
Martin DBR1 that won Le Mans
in 1959 to mark 70 years of the
marque racing at Goodwood.
Slightly contrived, given the over-
whelming number of more
conventional milestones in 2019,
but Goodwood does as it pleases,
and generally suceeds in doing so.
An Aston Martin first competed
at the Sussex circuit in 1949 cour-
tesy of WG Bingley, finishing an
underwhelming ninth in the
Lavant Cup, but that was excuse
enough to bring together DP212,
214 and 215 and all manner of
other important Astons – including
the one adorning this month’s
cover. One of the two remaining
DB3/5 works racers, this one the
Goodwood Nine Hours winner
courtesy of Peter Collins, lined up
along with the ex-Dick Seaman
‘Red Dragon’ and Count Zborows-
ki’s ‘Green Pea’. Even the Nimrod
Group C car joined the collection,
better received now than its results
would have suggested in period.
The list of Grand Prix cars on
display included a special Michael
Schumacher celebration, featuring
each of his title-winners to mark 25
years since his maiden Champion-
ship. The Jordan in which he made
his Grand Prix debut, thanks to
Bertrand Gachot’s misdemeanour
in a London Black Cab, was
perhaps the prettiest beside his old
Formula Ford Van Diemen.
Damon Hill even dropped into
an ex-Schumacher Benetton to
tackle the hill, his answer to the
question of driving a Schumi car
now very different to what it would
have been in the mid-1990s...
McLaren chose to plant the
dominant Can-Am M8D next to
its resurgent F1 car, while Renault
opted to dust off a 21 Turbo and
the unique and recently restored
Riffard ‘Tank’ record car.
Most varied might have been the
March celebration – another half
century – with Grand Prix cars, vast
wide-fronted Can-Ams, and even
an early ex-Ronnie Peterson F3 car.
Yet more anniversary collections
included the 110th birthday of the
Indy 500, including the wonderful
Ballot that Jean Assange took to
seventh place in 1920 and in which
Jules Goux won the first ItalianThe moment Nicolas Edel’s lithe Abarth 250
Monza appeared on the Cartier Style et Luxe
lawn it was a hit. It featured in a fascinating
Abarth tribute, which included several cars from
the Möll Collection, and was an outsider for the
win. Particularly against a beautiful set of
Bugattis styled by Ettore’s talented son, Jean,
and an Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato.
But, after passionate debate among the
star judges, the one-of-three Abarth beat the
Type 57SC Atalante of Friedhelm Loh. Marc
Newsome, designer and Bugatti collector, voted
for the Bugatti. “Its styling has everything –
dramatic tension, voluptuous proportions, and
engineering pedigree,” argued the Australian.
“In comparison the Abarth is an Italian kit car.”
Though all the designers voted for the
coachbuilt Molsheim beauty, the Abarth stole
the heart of the majority of the panel.
A big hit was the Voisin class, in which the sole
remaining Voisin Aérosport was the star,
transported exclusively to Goodwood together
with the stunning Derby Bentley ‘Embiricos’ from
the Keller Collection in California. MWABARTH SCORES
A GIANT-KILLING
Above: a century on from
scoring pole at Indy in the
hands of René Thomas
in 1919, the 3-litre Ballot
ventures up the hillclimb
course. Right: Cartier
Style et Luxe Best in
Show-winning 1950
Abarth 250 MonzaAbove: there were cult-
hero Grand Prix cars
aplenty, including the
Leyton House CG
designed by Adrian Newey- who even got behind the
wheel during the event.
Left: fans enjoy daytime
fireworks and the DBR